Messages that do a job
Structured writing you can be marked on, plus free writing you check yourself against a model.
A B1 message is not a sentence, it is a small structure. Almost every useful one follows the same three moves.
Situation → consequence for you → what you want now. Three moves, three or four sentences.
Ich habe am Montag ein Sofa bestellt.
the situation — plain and dated
facts first, no complaint yet
Leider ist es bis heute nicht angekommen, sodass ich zu Hause umsonst gewartet habe.
the consequence for you
this is where sodass earns its keep
Könnten Sie mir bitte sagen, wann die Lieferung kommt?
what you want now
an indirect question is the polite way to ask
Openings that get you into the message without hesitating:
| Purpose | Opening line |
|---|---|
| complaint | Ich schreibe Ihnen, weil … |
| request for information | Ich möchte wissen, ob … |
| cancelling | Leider muss ich den Termin absagen. |
| rescheduling | Ich würde den Termin gern verschieben. |
| apology | Es tut mir leid, dass ich … |
| advice to a friend | An deiner Stelle würde ich … |
Two habits separate a B1 message from an A2 one. First, the connectors do the work — deshalb, trotzdem, obwohl, sodass. Second, the request is indirect: Könnten Sie mir sagen, ob … rather than Sagen Sie mir …
Four sentences that each start with "Ich".Varying the opening: Leider …, Deshalb …, Trotzdem …, Könnten Sie …
German puts something other than the subject in position 1 constantly. It is the easiest way to sound less like a beginner.
Some tasks below are marked Self-check. Those are not graded: you write freely, then compare your answer with a model and a checklist. The app will not judge your German there, and it will not count towards your progress — that is deliberate, because a good answer to an open task can look very different from the model.
Words from this topic
- die die Lieferungthe delivery
- umsonstfor nothing, in vain
- sich beschwerento complain
- die die Verspätungthe delay
- An deiner StelleIf I were you
- die die Rückmeldungthe reply, the feedback